New UN Draft Resolution on Syria.....

BEIRUT (Reuters) - World powers argued about the details of a U.N. resolution on Syria, after suicide car bombers lent a grim new face to its conflict by killing 44 in Damascus.
European and U.S. officials want the Security Council to impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria's government because of its nine-month-old crackdown on protesters, which U.N. officials say has killed thousands.

Western powers say government security forces have been responsible for most of the violence. But Russia, an old ally of Damascus, wants any resolution to be even-handed.
"If the requirement is that we drop all reference to violence coming from extreme opposition, that's not going to happen," U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in New York after Russia submitted a revised draft resolution to the council.
"If they expect us to have arms embargo, that's not going to happen," he said. "We know what arms embargo means these days. It means that - we saw it in Libya - that you cannot supply weapons to the government but everybody else can supply weapons to various opposition groups."

The first batch of 50 Arab League monitors will head to Syria on Monday to assess whether Damascus is abiding by an Arab peace plan, Egypt's state news agency reported on Friday.....snip~

Looks Like Russia is adamant on any Arms Embargo or any interference by Western powers in Syria. Are they just puffing out their chest especially after their creation of the Satan Missile?

Does anyone think Assads forces are leaving cars with bombs in them all over the place just to make it look like the Sunni and the MB are guilty of it. We do know there is an opposition force being led by former Military that had defected from Assad's Forces. Most know the Muslim Brotherhood have been involved with the Sunni in Syria. Also we know these rebels have been meeting and training in Turkey.

Some Western Powers think the Arab League should be the one to handle what is taking place with this conflict. The King of Saudi Arabia has become pretty vocal over this. Other Sunni Leaders harp on what the Saud state out their mouths. Yet the Saudi.....don't want to take on Assads Forces. First they are not capable of doing anything militarily against Assad. Basically because they know the Syrians will fight back. Second they know they would would get their azzes kicked. So to me this a mute point in that the Sunni will want Western Powers to intervene once again. The Sunni cannot handle anything on their own.

I would note that now in Iraq since we have left. There have quite a few bombing taking place. With the majority of these events being instigated by the Sunni against the Shia led government ruling Iraq. Well.....albeit one part. As don't forget the Kurds have their own President in Iraq ruling over the Northern part. In which the Sunni VP ran to the Kurds for Protection while remaining inside Iraq. Course the Shia are unrestrained from retailiating in this country. Not like Yemen and Bahrian.....huh?

I didn't realize there had been an increase in bombings in Iraq since we left. It makes sense, I'll have to look it up.

As far as, "Does anyone think Assads forces are leaving cars with bombs in them all over the place just to make it look like the Sunni and the MB are guilty of it."

Heck yes I think Assad and his men are capable of that. These are the same guys that shelled one of their own coastal towns with a battleship so I believe they are more than capable of committing such acts.

I didn't realize there had been an increase in bombings in Iraq since we left. It makes sense, I'll have to look it up.

As far as, "Does anyone think Assads forces are leaving cars with bombs in them all over the place just to make it look like the Sunni and the MB are guilty of it."

Heck yes I think Assad and his men are capable of that. These are the same guys that shelled one of their own coastal towns with a battleship so I believe they are more than capable of committing such acts.

That's pretty ruthless.

Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up. Whoever criticizes immigration, while remaining silent about capitalism, should do the same.

Assad's soldiers sellin' arms and ammo to the rebels...Syrian rebels buy guns from enemyWed, Oct 31, 2012 - THE LESSER EVIL?: Rebel fighters say since the West will not arm them, they have no choice but to acquire weapons from the very regime they are trying to topple

The Syrian regime may be their sworn enemy, but rebels fighting to bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad say they pay hard cash to government agents for guns and bullets. For Syria’s plethora of armed opposition groups, obtaining weapons is a constant struggle. Furious with the West for failing to provide heavy weaponry, they say they have little choice but to line al-Assad’s coffers.

In a country where national service is compulsory, and a conflict where brothers fight on opposing sides and rebels defect from the armed forces, they say it is not difficult to find a “middleman” or an “old friend” to help. “We buy from al-Assad spies and on the market,” Major Abu Mahar said. He claims to lead 200 men who conduct “special missions” against al-Assad’s forces. Yet like other units, they are poorly armed with machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and homemade rockets and bombs.

Seven Kalashnikovs hang upside down from hooks and a bucket of bullets sits in the corner of Abu Mahar’s office in a converted gym, which overlooks the mirror-lined workout room where bodybuilders used to flex their pecs. Abu Mahar defected this summer from the air force. Like other rebels, he still has associates in various branches of the Syrian government military and security. Abu Mahar says a bullet costs 110 Syrian pounds (US$1.60) to buy from the regime, compared with US$2 on the market.

He claims that most of his group’s ammunition supplies come from the shabiha, the term used to refer to state-sponsored militia. “We buy them from double agents, they need the money. The shabiha’s God is money. They don’t care about anything else. If you give them money they’ll even sell you their own mother,” he said. “They have open access to army, police and intelligence bullet stores. They’re saving up for when the regime falls.”

General killed; jet fighters bomb DamascusOct. 31,`12 (UPI) -- Syrian TV said rebels killed an air force leader in Damascus, as activists said Assad regime jet fighters bombed targets in the capital for the first time.

State television said Gen. Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, one of the military's top aviation experts, was shot dead by "armed terrorists" in Damascus's Rukn al-Din neighborhood late Monday. The regime calls rebels terrorists and often characterizes the uprising as part of an Israeli plot. The Free Syrian Army, Syria's main the main armed opposition group, had no immediate comment on the state TV report. Al-Jazeera said it was possible regime agents assassinated Khalidi to keep him from defecting. The Qatari network quoted unidentified activists as saying "the regime got rid of him before he does that."

In July rebel bombers killed Syria's defense minister, deputy defense minister and assistant vice president as the officials met in a Damascus safe house. The bombing was widely viewed as the biggest single blow to President Bashar Assad's inner circle since the uprising against him began in March 2011. Syrian state TV said Khalidi's killing was "part of [the opposition's] campaign to target national personalities and scientists."

The day after the Damascus assassination, Syrian jet fighters bombed targets in Damascus for the first time, activists said. The Syrian military previously used helicopter gunships. The expansion of aerial bombardments also came a day after the official end of a four-day cease-fire that was continually violated by both sides, with each side accusing the other of undermining it.

Good news - for Assad...International Military Intervention in Syria Remains Unlikely November 05, 2012 WASHINGTON — The main Syrian opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council, voted Monday at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, to broaden its ranks in the face of U.S. pressure to create a more representative leadership.

Still, Syria will remain a foreign policy challenge for the U.S., no matter who wins Tuesday's presidential election. Even as the United States tries to identify the right people for a transitional authority to replace Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Obama administration said it is still considering a no-fly zone for northern Syria, but not a military intervention.

Former U.S. Ambassador Frank Wisner said there remains no support for military involvement in Syria from the United States or its allies. "What we should be talking about is not a military option but a political option, and that option must mean the assumption that as dreadful as this regime is in Syria, as ghastly as the crimes that is committing, you need a political way out of the situation, you need in short a political settlement,” said Wisner.

Some analysts say that the longer the 20-month-old conflict drags on, however, military intervention will be inevitable. Princeton professor Anne Marie Slaughter, a former U.S. State Department policy planner, says, “I think the U.S. should be doing everything we possibly can at this point to help establish buffer zones, even if that means that they have to be no-fly zones so you have to actually put in planes to protect them."

Some, like Kurt Volker of Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership and a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, say the U.S. should build a broader diplomatic base of support along with some military component. “That would be a combination of no-fly zone, of taking out air defenses, of limiting the ability to use armor inside Syria. Doing that would give some time and some space to the rebels in Syria, and then what’s already beginning to happen is the development of something of a safe haven on the border with Turkey,” said Volker.

Granny says Israel not gonna be able to strike Iran `cause dey gonna be fightin' Syria...Israel drawn into Syria fighting for first timeNov 11,`12 -- Israel was drawn into the fighting in neighboring Syria for the first time Sunday, firing warning shots across the border after an errant mortar shell landed near an Israeli military installation in the Golan Heights.

While Israel appeared eager to calm the situation, its response was a potent reminder of how easily the Syrian civil war - already spilling across borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan - could explode into a wider regional conflagration. Israeli officials threatened even tougher retaliation if attacks persist. They have feared that the instability in Syria over the past 19 months could spill across the border into Israel, particularly as President Bashar Assad's grip on power grows increasingly precarious.

Israel has little love for Assad, who has provided refuge and support to Israel's bitterest enemies through the years. But the Syrian leader - and his father before him - have kept the frontier quiet for nearly four decades, providing a rare source of stability in the volatile region. The Israeli military said the mortar fire caused no injuries or damage at the post in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and then annexed.

In recent weeks, incidents of errant fire from Syria have multiplied, leading Israel to warn that it holds Syria responsible. Israeli officials believe most of the fire has come from Syrian government forces, although they think it has been inadvertent and not been aimed at Israel. After responding to Sunday's mortar strike, the Israeli military moved quickly to defuse tensions.

"We understand this was a mistake and was not meant to target Israel, and then that is why we fired a warning shot in retaliation," said Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman. Defense officials said an anti-tank missile was fired, and there were no reports of casualties in Syria.

Israel says it will follow U.S. lead on IranNovember 8th, 2012 - Israel is signaling a major change in tone toward U.S. President Barack Obama now that he has won reelection.

In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, gave what could only be described as a ringing endorsement of the Obama administration’s handling of Iran’s nuclear program. It has been a very contentious issue between the two allies, with the U.S. fearing Israel might unilaterally strike Iran’s nuclear sites and drag the U.S. into an regional war. But Ayalon told Amanpour that despite past differences with the Obama administration over Iran, “I think today we can safely say that we are very much on the same page and will continue to follow the lead of the U.S.” Over the course of his first term in office, Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have had a fraught relationship. They have disagreed on major issues, ranging from the Iranian nuclear program to a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s relationship with Obama’s challenger, Mitt Romney, dates back to the 1970s, when they worked at the same company in the United States - Netanyahu’s preference for a President Romney had been an open secret. Ayalon admitted “there was a special kinship between Mr. Romney and Mr. Netanyahu,” but said Israel cannot afford to be meddling in U.S. politics. Still, many Israelis are worried about payback against their leader for backing the wrong horse in the U.S. presidential sweepstakes. On Thursday, the leading Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth even carried the headline "Bibi gambled. We'll pay." But Ayalon expressed no doubts that the relationship would get back on track. “I have full confidence knowing not only the president’s commitment, but also his team” he said. “In a way I see an advantage by the continuity of the administration being very seasoned, knowing very well the Iran file and portfolio, to continue and make sure Iran won’t become nuclear.”

But Israel has not always said it would follow Obama’s lead. Israeli Journalist Ilana Dayan told Amanpour that Ayalon’s comments are in stark contrast to what Netanyahu told her just last Friday. “[Netanyahu] very, very strongly said if the United States doesn’t do it, we’ll have to do it ourselves.” Has the U.S. election made the difference? Ayalon repeatedly told Amanpour, “We very much trust the leadership of the U.S., the leadership of President Obama,” he told Amanpour. “We have no better friend than President Obama.” He then outlined the differences the U.S. and Israel has had over “timelines” for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program and their differences over whether the goal was to prevent Iran acquiring “nuclear capabilities” or “the bomb itself.” Now he says, “We know that we will continue the consultations because we cannot afford not to work together because the issues are too big, too immense.” On Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu called Obama to congratulate him on his win. Netanyahu's office said he told Obama that the re-election "was a vote of confidence in your leadership."